Parallels to "American Skin (41 Shots)"

Part of this particular exam assignment asks you to draw parallels to the song “American Skin (41 shots)” by Bruce Springsteen.

Like “The Baddest Dog in Harlem” by Walter Dean Myersis, “American Skin (41 shots)” talks about police officers shooting a black person dead.

Bruce Springsteen’s song was inspired by the shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, in New York City. Diallo was an unarmed black immigrant, shot wrongfully by four police officers who were subsequently charged with murder.

Bruce Springsteen’s song (which you can listen to here[1]) presents the events in a lyrical way stressing the irony of the situation— that in America “You can get killed just for living in/Your American skin”.

The “41 shots” mentioned in the title and the song refer to the 41 shots fired by the policeman who killed ...